18 Dec 2019

Funding boost for netball and women's cricket

7:47 am on 18 December 2019

Netball and women's cricket are two of the big winners for 2020 funding from High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPNZ).

New Zealand captain Laura Langman holds the Netball World Cup trophy  with Maria Folau, Phoenix Karaka and Shannon Saunders after victory over Australia.

Silver Ferns Photo: Photosport

The organistaion has announced a $36.8 million core investment programme for 2020.

There is no change for any of the sports heading into next year's Olympics or Paralympics following the commitment outlined in 2018.

Netball gets a $380,000 increase over the next four years to $1.88 million annually to prepare for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 World Cup.

Half a million dollars for cricket shifts from the Black Caps to the White Ferns for the next two years to support preparation for the 2021 ICC Cricket World Cup, to be hosted in New Zealand, and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will feature women's T20 cricket.

There is an increase of $100,000 to $450,000 for the Kiwis rugby league team.

There is also a slight increase for boxing and surfing, while there is investment for one new sport, karate.

Softball has had it's funding cut with money for the Black Sox dropping from $350,000 to $200,000, while White Sox funding has been cut completely.

Shooting has had it's funding cut from $155,000 to $55,000.

White Ferns players celebrate the wicket of Punia.
New Zealand White Ferns v India. Women's Twenty20 International cricket. 3rd T20. Seddon Park, Hamilton, New Zealand. Sunday 10 February 2019.  © Copyright photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz

White Ferns Photo: Photosport Ltd 2019

HPSNZ chief executive Michael Scott said today's announcement for the final year of the Olympic and Paralympic cycle confirms there are no changes to those levels of funding, with sports generally tracking well in the lead up to 2020.

"This approach is designed to give Olympic and Paralympic sports more certainty on which to base their transition from the Tokyo to Paris Olympic cycles and their preparations through the Paris cycle.

"The importance of funding certainty extends beyond Olympic and Paralympic sports. We are seeking to evolve our model to achieve this, and on this occasion we are delighted to be able to give greater support to elite women's sport," he said.

Scott said HPSNZ's investment decisions are based on the same four criteria for all sports: past performance; future potential; quality of the high performance programme and campaigns; and the individual sport context.

Today's announcement also follows detailed performance discussions with the NSOs concerned.